You definitely want the Pastis, not the absinthe. The flavor is not dissimilar but having the true absinthe is completely unnecessary for your tiki drinks. The Pastis is a great product.

That being said, you definitely need to have it (pastis).

Fear not, I love the flavor, but my wife does not. Yet, even she will admit to the beautiful and subtle complexity it brings to a drink. If you don't use it, you are not really tasting the drink. Be shy and frugal at first, and then slowly creep up your usage and see how it affects your drinks.

On 2014-03-15 06:27, Swanky wrote:This is another use for the old bitters bottles. Clean it well then fill it with Pernod/Herbsaint. Now you can use it to measure out small drops. NOT dashes as with bitters. I am not a fan of the licorice and my wife really doesn't like it, so I keep it well under the radar and this method helps a lot. Much easier than an eye dropper or other method. It delivers very tiny amounts you can count and control.

This is what I do. Very handy and fast. Though I don't measure 6 drops, I just add a dash. I think it's fine and not overpowering for me. It's also good to have some Pimento Dram in an old bitters bottle since some drinks call for it like 1/4tsp which would be 2 dashes. Making a Montego Bay has never been easier.

With the bitters bottle, you can just slowly dribble out the drops, which are very small and see how many you put in the drink and get a feel for your taste that way. Most of my patrons are not fans of the flavor, and certainly if you can taste it up front, I think there is too much in there. I generally find the bitters bottle drops are in line with the recipe, where the same amount out of an eye dropper would be outrageously strong. And trying to pour it into a 1/8th teaspoon is just craziness.
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On 2014-03-18 07:18, Kill Devil wrote:To be fair, though, I'm always at least making doubles, so make that 1/4 oz. and up

This is an important consideration.... if you are making Tiki Drinks chances are you are making several at a time.

A single pour calling for 1/8th of an ounce is a pain in the ass to measure out accurately, but making two (or a double if you are drinking with Kill Devil) means a 1/4 ounce pour. Few, if any, ever complain about measuring a 1/4 ounce of something for a drink.

And here is the tip for those of you who are not keen on the flavor of Ricard/Pernod/Pastis that I think was also shared in that older thread....

Pour the measure over your cutting board, *not* over the shaker. If you over-shoot the measure it won't spill into the drink.

With most of the herbiscents in cocktails, unless they call for a decent volume, when you get to the point that you are working in drops it is probably better to just coat the glass/mug. The only time I ever mix it in with the drink itself is when we are talking parts.